


Klance Collection

by RangoAteMyBaby (FormallyKnownAsFreya)



Series: Rango's VLD Drabble Collection 2019-2020 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftercare, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Bloodplay, Blow Jobs, Bottom Lance (Voltron), Creampie, Dom Keith (Voltron), Established Relationship, Knifeplay, M/M, Sub Lance (Voltron), Top Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:13:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29066370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FormallyKnownAsFreya/pseuds/RangoAteMyBaby
Summary: This is a compilation of several small VLD drabble requests I’ve done over the past two years. This collection is purely Klance and contains both SFW and NSFW drabbles. So please check tags and read at your discretion. (Tags to be added as drabbles are added)
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Rango's VLD Drabble Collection 2019-2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132529
Comments: 31
Kudos: 200





	1. First Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain someone sees snow for the very first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble Rating: General Audiences  
> Tags: Established relationship, College AU

It was about time they took a trip together. The entire group of them needed a break from their college exams and what better way than a vacation. Pidge offered up her Uncle's cabin in Colorado and everyone was more than eager to accept. Before they know it, the lot of them have their bags packed and they're racing off to the airport.

The vibration of the plane engine is enough to put Lance to sleep within minutes of takeoff. It reminds him of this thing his mom used to do when he was a kid, when he couldn’t sleep at night. She’d tuck him into the backseat with a warm blanket and his sippy cup of milk and then drive around the neighborhood until he fell asleep, the rumble and bump of the road and the soothing hum of the engine knocking him out in seconds.

The same could not be said for Keith.

He fidgets and shifts almost constantly. The second the plane is in the air he’s leaning over towards Lance’s window seat to peek out, and every ten minutes into the flight he’s shifting to look out it again. After the fifth time of waking Lance up by accidentally stepping on his foot, Lance finally says something about it.

“We’ll get there when we get there, Keith. Stop moving,” Lance huffs and pats his thigh. He replaces his sleep mask and yawns. “Take a nap. The flight is six hours.”

“I know how long the flight is, Lance,” Keith huffs right back. “I just...never mind.”

“Just what?” Lance frowns and lifts his sleep mask back up onto his forhead.

“Nothing. Switch seats with me if it’s that annoying,” Keith suggests, still leaning to look out.

“Tell me why you want the window seat and I’ll trade,” Lance posits. “Until then get comfortable. We still have...five hours--”

“I’ve never been to Colorado before,” Keith interrupts. “I’ve...never even been north of Fort Worth.”

“And window seat gets you...what? The first look at the Denver airport?” Lance snorts. “It’s an airport, Keith. They all look the same.”

“It _won’t_ look the same because--!” Keith nearly shouts but bites back his tone and slams himself back into his seat, arms crossed. “Never mind. It’s no big deal.”

Lance sits up suddenly, his playful teasing tone gone in the wake of Keith’s nervous frown. He pulls off his sleep mask completely and tilts his head to look at Keith, a twinge of concern on his face. Whatever it is is important to Keith but he clearly doesn’t want to say why. Lance puts his hand on Keith’s shoulder and gives him a gentle shake.

“What’s up, Keith?” Lance asks. “Why do you really want the window seat?”

Keith shrinks in on himself and grumbles something too quiet for Lance to hear. His face is red and its hard to tell if it's from embarrassment, shame, or anger. Lance leans in a little closer so he can repeat himself. This time Lance catches it all and he blinks with incredulous shock.

“You’ve... _never_ seen snow before?” 

“I mean...pictures, I guess,” Keith shrugs.

Lance grins and reaches over to the window, slamming the shutter down to obscure the view. Keith watches dumbfounded as Lance leans over the back seat and tells Pidge to shut hers and forward a seat to wake Shiro into closing his, too. Lance plops back down in his seat and wags a finger at Keith.

“No looking out the window! The entire flight!” Lance tells him. 

“Lance--”

“The hell if your first look at snow is going to be from 30,000 feet,” Lance says then points to emphasize his words. “No peeking! Pidge, stop him if he tries to touch the windows!”

“Got it,” Pidge acknowledges. “Slap the shit out if Keith if he tries to look out the window.”

“Pidge--!” Hunk gapes.

“And when we land you’re putting on _this_ until we get to Pidge’s uncle’s place!” Lance insists.

Lance loops the sleep mask over Keith’s neck. Keith rolls his eyes and stretches it out on its band before letting it snap back into place. He frowns at Lance but it slowly morphs into a half smile. A smile that Lance returns.

“The first time you see snow--you should be surrounded by pine, spruces, and firs. It should look like a blanket made of soft fluffy cotton on the ground and trees,” Lance says. “Fresh snow is so soft that when you scoop it up in your mittens you wonder if it’ll ever pack into a snowball. It will, but you need the right technique. I’ll show you how.”

“Yeah?” Keith chuckles.

“And then, when I’m done trouncing you in a snowball fight, we’ll go inside for a cup of spiced cider and huddle up for warmth next to a fireplace.”

“The window,” Keith objects with smile. “I’d rather sit at the window.”

“So you can watch the woods fill up with snow, Mr. Frost?” Lance jokes and nudges Keith playfully. “Sounds good to me. I’ll grab the blanket so we don’t freeze.”  
  


*****  
  


“Can I look yet?” Keith asks. “Lance, I can’t feel my feet,” he huffs with annoyance.

“Shut up Keith, you want a good first look, right? Let me do my job!” Lance insists as his hands guide Keith up the path, one palm on each shoulder. “Also, you’re gonna have to get used to the ‘can’t feel my feet’ thing for the next two weeks. It’s Colorado in January.”

“Lance,” Keith gripes.

“Aaaand, here. Here’s a good spot,” Lance decides while stopping him. Then he leans in, his breath warm puffs on Keith’s ear. “Ready?”

Keith nods with a smile, feet tapping in anticipation. Lance tugs the sleep mask off and slowly Keith opens up his eyes, his lids fluttering as he adjusts to the bright white of his surroundings.

The ground is blindingly white and, just as Lance said it would be, looks soft. Like a thick woolen blanket over everything. Keith kneels into the snow with wide eyes and digs out a handful which doesn’t reach anywhere near the bottom of the 20 inches of fluff. Freezing cold. The delicate flakes fall from his mittens as he wiggles his fingers making it look like he’s holding powdered sugar.

Snowflakes drift down past Keith’s face drawing his attention upward to find their origin. Little flecks of white and silver dance their way down from the blue skies with their equally puffy clouds. The trees surrounding them have their own blankets of snow, some of them have green poking out from there coverings. Most of the branches are decorated with icicles shining like crystals. A large downy flake lands on Keith’s nose, a frozen kiss from mother nature that brings a small smile to his face.

“It’s so quiet,” Keith comments. “It’s like...nothing exists for miles.”

“The snow does that,” Lance tells him. “Muffles sound.”

“Reminds me of the desert,” Keith says, scooping more snow and trying to pack it into a ball. It falls apart. So he tries again, scooping more out of the pile.

“How so?”

“Everything’s covered in dirt or sand. For miles and miles. Quiet, with no signs of life, but hidden underneath it all--” Keith pauses and tosses a stone. It hits a bush and three ptarmigans rush out to take cover in more brush. An owl screeches overhead and it makes Keith smile. “Guess some things are the same, no matter what latitude you’re at.”

Lance kneels with an impish look and scoops up some snow. He packs it tight without squishing it into a solid piece of ice. He doesn’t want to hurt Keith with it after all. 

He winds up and tosses it, aiming for the back of Keith’s head. He misses because Keith anticipates it and tilts out of the way. Keith retaliates with a snowball of his own. It doesn’t quite make it to Lance’s shoulder like he aimed and falls apart halfway, splitting into two pieces, only one of which hits Lance’s knee.

The fight doesn’t last long as they run and scoop and laugh trying to pelt each other with snow. At one point Keith forgoes snowballs altogether, opting to just grab fistfuls of snow and shoving them down Lance’s jacket in retaliation for the few he took to the face. It devolves into wrestling in the snow, before Lance begs for freedom. He’s cold and wet and more than ready for cider and dry clothes. Together they walk back to the cabin, arms hooked over each other’s shoulders.

“So, did'ja like your first snow experience?” Lance asks, his smile hopeful.

“Yeah,” Keith nods and pecks Lance’s cheek with a frozen kiss. Makes Lance flush a little. It’s more than the cold has accomplished all day. “Thanks, Lance. For making me wait until we got here.”

“W-Well yeah. Seeing it from up there--” Lance points up and shakes his head. “--is not how you want to see snow for the first time. Trust me, I’d know.”

Coming from Cuba, Lance knows all about witnessing his first snow. He wishes someone had made him wait until he was on the ground to see it but the look on Keith’s face more than made up for his own lackluster experience. Face bright and excited as he took it all in, a slowly growing smile on his cold-flushed cheeks, eyes full of wonder and awe. Flakes caught in his hair and lashes like sparkling gemstones.

“Come on,” Lance says hugging him closer. “Let’s get dry, get a hot drink, a blanket, and sit by one of the windows. We can watch the woods fill up with snow until nightfall. Together.”

And that’s exactly what they do. 

They return to the cabin and Pidge promptly makes fun of them for being soaked to the bone. Shiro and Hunk insist they go change quickly or they’ll catch a cold. Once dry and warm they snuggle up close in an alcove with a window, with hot cider to warm them back up. Pidge tells her best ghost stories as Hunk cowers under his own blanket. Shiro makes sure there's food enough to go around while doing a facetime call with his husband who couldn't make it. The lot of them laugh and joke and smile way into the night.

Lance falls asleep first with Keith held in a firm embrace against him. Back to chest with the blanket swaddled around them both. Keith tilts to the side and plants another soft kiss on his cheek. Lance stirs but only to squeeze Keith a little closer. Keith merely huffs out a chuckle before returning his eyes to the frosted window and the snowy forest outside.

“The woods are lovely...dark...and deep,” Keith hums quietly before contentedly drifting off to sleep in Lance’s warm hold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


	2. Knife-Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance experiment with Keith's favourite weapon in the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble rating: EXPLICIT (CHECK ALL TAGS)  
> Tags: Established relationship, Bottom/Submissive Lance, Top/Dominant Keith, Knife play, Blood play, Anal Sex, Creampie, Blowjob, Aftercare

Keith loves his knife almost more than anything else. 

Even though he’s got a bayard that can transform into a sword at his command _—_ very cool, he admits _—_ he still prefers his dagger. Loves the feel of it in his palm. The weight of it makes him feel powerful, the size of it makes him feel in control. It fits so perfectly in his hands, heavy in a way that’s different from that of a sword. Because with that little blade, friend or foe, he can bring anyone to their knees.

Admittedly, he likes using it on ‘friends’ more than foes.

Lance loves Keith’s knife more than he can say. When Keith first pulled it in bed, Lance’s eyes blew wider than dinner plates but he said nothing. He trusted Keith, and curiously, he wanted to see where Keith was going with this. After all, nothing they’d done so far had been unenjoyable so… maybe this could be fun too.

The sound of the sharp metal edge scraping across skin. The way his body shivers in equal parts excitement and trepidation. Lance never knew it was possible to be aroused and a little afraid at the same time. A quick flick of Keith’s wrist and Lance could bleed out before he could scream for help. Something about putting his life in Keith’s hands is exhilarating as much as it is frightening _ — _ not to mention, it turns them both on like crazy.

Keith’s never cut him. He’s only ever trailed the blade over his skin reverently. Brushed the metal over his neck, his collarbones, his nipples, and his sides. All the while, a fire burning in his eyes as he licks his lips. 

No, Keith’s never cut him. But it’s all too obvious that he wants to. 

Keith never breaches the subject. He never asks if he can. Their nights usually end up with Keith sheathing the knife before they continue, riled up and eager to get his cock into Lance to satisfy the itch his blade instilled in him. That  all changes one day as Keith’s trailing the knife over Lance’s side. Usually, Lance stays utterly silent, his shallow breath the only sound other than the scrap of that knife. When Keith finishes sliding the smooth blade edge over Lance’s hip, he goes to sheath it, but before he can Lance speaks, and Keith’s breath catches in his throat.

“Do it,” Lance breathes out. 

Keith doesn’t move. His eyes flick up to meet Lance’s under him. 

Lance is flushed and breathing softly. What Keith wouldn’t give to hear those lips hiss out a gasp of pain as his blade pulls across skin. What he wouldn’t give to see the blood pearl and drip down the perfect skin of his quivering partner. The thought has Keith licking his lips again. He can almost taste it already.

And yet… he still hesitates. 

“D-Do it, Keith,” Lance repeats. “Cut me. I… know you want to.”

“I do…” Keith admits, running his blade over Lance’s stomach again. He swallows before looking up again. “I… are you sure?”

“Y-Yeah,” Lance nods, but then quickly adds. “J-Just this once. If… if I don’t like it--”

“Never again,” Keith finishes for him and they both nod. “Just… just this once,” he repeats to himself as he looks over Lance’s beautiful skin.

Keith’s never been known for his patience, but he takes his sweet time picking the perfect place. Thinks at length about the shape and pressure he’ll need to leave his mark on Lance. 

Such soft skin. Not a single imperfection. Seems like such a shame to mar something so pristine and pure, but at the same time… he’ll be the only one who’s ever done this to Lance. The only one to leave a lasting impression on him. In some morbid way, Lance will always be his. That thought alone would bring him to full hardness if he wasn’t already as stiff as a board.

Keith places the sharp edge against Lance’s pec, just an inch under his nipple. His eyes dart back up to Lance again to check if he’s prepared, and he receives a nod. 

“I’m ready,” Lance whispers.

Keith presses down and pulls the blade slow, watching closely as he slices through skin. Lance lets out a surprised and pained gasp that will echo in Keith’s ears forever. It brings a bright flush to Keith’s cheeks, and a heavy sigh escapes his lips as he watches blood flow in a thin drip down Lance’s ribs.

“Lance,” Keith sighs, though it’s barely a step below being a moan. 

Keith brushes the blade through the trail of blood until it drips with crimson. Lance’s eyes go wide when Keith brings the knife to his lips and licks the blood from it with a heady sigh. His cheeks warm with heat and his eyes lid with lustful hunger. His cock is even starting to drip with precome. 

Keith’s getting off to this more than Lance ever thought possible.

The cut hurt but… Lance can’t even feel it now. All he feels is turned on at the sight of Keith looking down on that cut with utter reverence. 

He wants… to see that look again. That spark of excitement at the sound and sight of Lance shuddering under him as the blade slices through. 

“A-Another,” Lance stammers.

“What?” Keith blinks, certain he misheard. He leans down closer, his lips almost touching Lance’s. “What did you just say?” he asks, the scent of blood on his breath.

“C-Cut me again,” Lance says to him and Keith damn near breathes out his own weak noise. Like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “D-Do it, Keith. I… want you to cut me,” he tells him.

And cut Lance he does.

The second cut is just below the first, and Keith slices his skin with far less hesitation. Lance gasps out again at the sharp pain, and Keith feels weak in the wake of it. Weak but hungry as well. 

More. He wants more, and Lance says to take it.

Keith cuts a third time and then a fourth. On the fifth, he most definitely lets out a ragged moan before tossing the bloody knife aside. He can’t keep his hands off of Lance now. Not when he’s so beautiful with his cuts and that excited flush to his face. That hot blood leaking in drips onto the sheets as he pants out Keith’s name. 

Keith fucks hard into him, all restraint gone. His tongue darts out to taste the cuts on Lance’s chest. Breathing hard, fingers bruising flesh as he holds Lance tight. Before he knows it, he’s moaning Lance’s name and coming inside him within half a dozen thrusts.

Keith’s never come so quickly before. This is the first time he’s _ever_ come before Lance, but with how perfect Lance looks with his cuts, and blood, and how pretty he sounds with his gasps of pain mixed with pleasure _ — _ Keith couldn’t last as long as he usually does. But that doesn’t mean Lance will go unsatisfied. Keith immediately goes between his legs and eagerly sucks Lance off, the taste of blood still on his tongue when Lance releases with an ecstatic moan.

Lance had no idea how profound the effect of cutting him would be on Keith. It’s like everything had been amped up to eleven. His sensitivity. His hunger. His desire. Keith’s self control was obliterated and thrown out the window in a desperate need to sate himself.

Lance felt the effects of the blade on himself, too. 

The second the blade cut into Lance felt… owned. Desired. And each subsequent cut made him eager for more, like an addiction. One wasn’t enough. He wanted more in the same way that Keith wanted more.

For months after that night, the cuts only get more pronounced. Deeper and more lasting. Keith worried at first about permanent markings on Lance’s perfect skin, but then Lance was begging him not to stop. That he didn’t care if  _ every single mark _ left a scar _ — _ each mark is Keith’s claim on him and he  _ wants  _ to be claimed. Over and over.

“Want me to… _claim_ you, huh?” Keith pants as he fucks Lance that night. 

Lance only moans and mewls with a nod. So Keith pulls out and flips Lance over onto his stomach. Within seconds, Keith’s over him again, cock pressed right back into his ass as his hand pins Lance to the bed by his neck. Keith presses the knife to Lance’s beautiful bare shoulder, but doesn’t cut yet. 

“You’re already  _ mine _ ,” Keith reminds him in that possessive tone that cutting always seems to bring out in him. “But… let’s make sure  _ everyone  _ knows it.”

Lance lets loose several moans and screams as Keith carves his initials into his shoulder with a hungry grin on his face. Each cut has Keith groaning and praising the shaking body under him. Between each slice, Keith thrusts hard into his ass, making Lance moan and beg for more. 

Once the last letter is in, Keith drops the knife beside them and sits up to take it all in. His chest blooms with pride at seeing his partner under him. Shivering, bloody, gasping out weak, breathy noises. But the best part is his initials on Lance’s shoulder, marking him, making Lance irrefutably  _ his _ . 

“You alright down there?” Keith asks with a hungry look. “Or should we stop?”

“N-No, d-don’t… don’t stop,” Lance begs. “You can k-keep… keep cutting.”

“No more cuts. Get up on your knees,” Keith demands. He wants to see that mark as he fucks his partner senseless. 

Lance does as he’s bid, and Keith resumes fucking him with hard, pounding thrusts. Each snap of hips makes Lance cry out, the pain of his cuts already drowned out by the pleasure Keith is putting him through. Keith’s fingers run through the spilt blood on his back, hot and sticky. 

“You’re _mine_ … aren’t you, Lance?” Keith asks as his thrusts slow, his cock dragging against his insides purposefully. 

“Y-Yes all… all yours,” Lance gasps. “K-Keith, I’m close--”

“And you know… you know that I’m yours, right?” Keith whispers to him, going even slower. “I would… do  _ anything  _ for you, Lance.”

“A-Anything?”

“Yes,” Keith promises, squeezing his ass gently. “ _Anything_.”

“Th-Then go faster maybe? You’re  _ killing  _ me h-here,” Lance groans and Keith chuckles. “And… p-put that knife of yours… against m-my throat again?” 

Keith’s smile spreads into a grin, and he snatches up his bloodied blade. He presses the dull side of the blade against Lance’s pulse before giving him the speed he so desires. Snapping hips, the wet sound of flesh meeting flesh, the smell of blood, sweat, and musk as Keith rails into him. More sweet praises rolling out Keith’s mouth into Lance’s ear as their pleasure mounts. 

When all is said and done, the bed is a mess. Damp with sweat and smeared with drips of blood. Blood that Lance trails his fingers through with a sigh. He extends those bloody tips to write on Keith’s chest. L _ — _ A _ — _ N _ — _

“C… and E…” Lance smiles. “You’re _mine_ now.”

“Always was,” Keith smirks and scoops Lance up into his arms. “Come on, gotta clean you up.”

Lance just holds on with a pleased look as Keith takes strides over to the bathroom. Keith will treat his wounds and plaster bandages over his skin while fondly kissing at his neck, so appreciative of Lance and all he does for him. Just like they do every night that the knife comes out. And after taking a nice long bath and changing the sheets, they’ll fall into bed together for the ultimate cuddle session before falling asleep. 

Tired but happy to be with the one person who completes them body and soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


	3. A Haunted House Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team investigates a (supposedly) haunted house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble Rating: General Audiences  
> Tags: Haunting ambience, general spooky stuff, close calls, broken bones, high-school Klance, teenage crush

The house was burned out about a five years ago. It’s a little out of the way in the middle of the woods but Shiro’s friends from college told him all about it. Ritualistic arson with several deaths inside. It was in all the headlines in town for about two weeks but then it was yesterday's news. No one cared anymore.

Now what's left of the house is owned by the city, since no one will buy it.

And also because it’s haunted as hell.

Which is all their little group of ghost hunters needs to hear. 

All four high schoolers run their own YouTube channel about local haunted house investigations. Usually they split into teams. Big and tall Hunk carries a camera. Accompanying him is Pidge, the shortest member of their group and the biggest believer among them. She takes EVPs around the house while Hunk records. 

Lance carries a camera too while narrating the history of the house that he researched in the days prior. He always paints a colorful picture with Keith in tow as his regulation wet blanket. That's the joke anyway. No one really know why Keith always comes with them, only that he does and that he always has smart remarks for Lance during the whole investigation.

As for Shiro, he's the chaperone. His only job is to make sure they don’t break anything (or themselves) while the five of them illegally (albeit harmlessly) trespass for their fifteen minutes internet fame. 

The place looks just as scary as it sounds. Ivy crawls unchecked up the outside thanks to the lack of grounds keeping. The shutters look like they're about to fall off their hinges. No sign of light inside.

The inside isn't any better. There are scorch marks all over the walls. Peeling wallpaper and broken furniture abounds. The whole team flashes their lights around the big main room with his high ceilings and Lance lets out an impressed whistle.

“It’s huge,” Hunk blinks in awe.

“That’s what she said,” Lance jokes.

“But not to you,” Pidge adds with a smirk.

“ _ Hey! _ ”

“Focus team,” Shiro smiles at them. “You wanted a new house for your show, so get recording. I want to be in and out of here in two hours.”

“Alrighty,” Lance grins. He turns on his camera and focuses it on Keith’s unamused face. “Ready to see some  _ ghosts _ ?”

“Sure,” Keith rolls his eyes. 

“Investigate wherever you like but don’t go upstairs,” Shiro tells them all. 

“Why? Is that where the  _ ghosts  _ are?” Lance inquires, zooming in on Shiro. 

“Just stick to the bottom floor and the basement,” Shiro insists.

“There’s a basement?!” Pidge perks up. “Hunk, let's move. First stop, creepy basement,” she says and they head off for their EVPs. 

Shiro goes with them while Lance and Keith investigate the ground floor. Lance gives out his colorful commentary as Keith follows quietly behind him. They try for a few EVPs but before long Lance gets bored. Despite how creepy the house looks, it’s not particularly spooky here. The vibe just isn't there.

“Let’s go check out the upstairs,” Lance suggests. “I heard that’s where the fires actually started.”

“Shiro said not to,” Keith reminds him.

“Oh and you’re gonna listen to your step-brother all of a sudden?” Lance snorts. “What? Scared of  _ ghosts _ , Keith?”

“I’m not scared!” Keith frowns at him. “And besides, ghosts aren’t real.”

“Every show has to have a skeptic, I guess...I just thought it was me,” Lance jokes. “Come on, a quick look. No one will even know we’re gone.”

Keith begrudgingly agrees because no one is supposed to go anywhere alone. The two of them scale up the creaking stairs to the top floor. Immediately, Lance has the camera up to record as they walk down the dilapidated halls. The floorboards creak eerily as they step from room to room.

“The effects of the fires remains evident today. Scorched marks in a trail that hits every room to ensure every sacrifice died at the same time,” Lance narrates. “You can almost hear _ the pained cries of restless spirits _ as they clawed at the locked doors to escape their wretched fate as they were  _ burned alive. _ ”

Keith rolls his eyes at his dramatics. 

“Who knows what kind of evil they intended to summon down onto our plane,” Lance continues. “But I can  _ feel it in my bones _ that something...isn’t quite right here. Like the spirits mean to do us harm thanks to our mere presence in their domain. Perhaps they are plotting against us with the intention of...making us join them in these haunted halls,” Lance adds with spooky flavor.

“Alright, you got enough,” Keith frowns and squeezes his crossed arms. “Let’s go back down already.”

“There’s still like five rooms left, Keith,” Lance objects. “I don’t know why you’re freaking out. I’m just dressing it up for the show. We both know there’s no such thing as--”

Something clatters to the floor at the end of the hall and shatters. Keith brings up his flashlight in record time to find dust billowing next to a picture frame that fell off the wall. Both boys swallow and Lance nervously laughs. 

“It’s just a frame,” Lance says and gestures to the walls. “This place is hella old. It’s bound to happen...right?”

“Right,” Keith coughs, regaining that small loss of composure.

“Just a few rooms left,” Lance tells him. “I won’t even narrate. Cool?”

“Fine,” Keith agrees but it’s clear he doesn’t like it. 

“I’m not scared at all,” Lance insists. 

“Me neither,” Keith says back. 

That said they stand a little closer together as they visit the next room. Lance holds the camera as he pans the room, willing himself not to shiver at how cold it’s suddenly gotten. The temperature even extends back out into the hall as they walk down it.

“Cold,” Keith comments.

“There’s probably a broken window in one of these rooms,” Lance posits. “It’s a draft, nothing weird about that.”

“Yeah,” Keith swallows. “Right.”

A door at the end of the hall slams loudly and with a frightened yelp Lance trips and drops the camera. It skids a few yards away down the hall and comes to a stop in front of an old A/C vent. Keith tugs him up to his feet just as a strong wind hits the house, rattling windows and making the whole house groan loudly. It’s just the wind but--

“Y-Yeah, okay...l-let’s...go back downstairs,” Lance finally caves in.

“Great idea,” Keith nods eagerly. 

“Can’t leave Pidge’s camera though,” Lance swallows as he looks at it down the hall. 

Why does it look so far away now?

“Then grab it and let’s go,” Keith says.

“You can go without me,” Lance tells him.

“No, we should...stick together.”

Lance takes slow steps forward with Keith’s hand still holding tight on his arm from when he pulled him off the floor. He may not have said it, but...it's clear Keith’s as scared as Lance is. He can feel a tremble in his fingertips as they squeeze on Lance's arm. That’s fine, with Lance. He doesn’t mind having someone close in this suddenly  _ very  _ creepy house.

The closer they get to the camera the louder the creaking seems to get. Keith stops moving, planting his feet as his grip tightens. It's almost bruising. Lance turns to see what the hold up is and sees Keith looks more rigid than usual. Paler too. Christ, Keith looks petrified and it's starting to freak Lance out a little.

If Keith is scared then Lance is terrified, but he can't let it show. He's always touted that he's braver than Keith, even if he knows it's not true.

“F-Forget it,” Keith stammers while looking at the ground. “Just leave it. Let’s go,” he says and tries pulling Lance back the other way.

“What? Are you serious?” Lance asks, tugging right back.

“I thought I saw--I mean--I have a bad feeling,” Keith blurts out, his voice quivering a little.

“Jeez and I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts?” Lance tries for a little levity in the form of teasing. Mostly to make himself feel better about being scared too. 

“I...I don’t,” Keith swallows. 

“Come on, Keith,” Lance jerks his head at the floor. “It’s right there. You can go and I’ll just--” He yanks out of Keith’s grasp and bravely takes the few steps forward. “I’ll just...grab it on my own.”

He bends down to get the camera and--

“Look out!”

Lance is yanked back just as the floor collapses under him with a loud crack. It wasn’t enough to pull him to safety and he finds himself sliding down the newly formed hole. He grabs ahold of the protruding floorboards but now he’s dangling from the ceiling of the main hall. Lance’s eyes take in the long drop that it’ll be if he falls before looking back up at a wide-eyed Keith. 

“Lance! Don’t move!” 

Lance swallows and looks around. The camera is right on the edge of the broken floor and he makes an attempt to reach for it.

“Forget the stupid camera, Lance!” Keith shouts from the edge on his hands and knees. 

“But it’s gonna--”

It tumbles off the side and falls to the ground on the bottom floor. Something cracks as it hits. The lens probably. Definitely broken.

“Shit...Pidge is gonna be pissed.”

“Not as pissed as Shiro’s gonna be if we break our necks,” Keith says getting on his stomach and carefully crawling forward so as not to weaken the boards more. “Don’t move, I’m gonna...pull you back up,” he says while reaching out.

He gets his hands on Lance’s wrists just as they hear another crack. They both know what that means--Their combined weight is too much. Before long it’s going to collapse under Keith too. Lance’s eyes go wide at that thought, suddenly a lot more scared than he was a minute ago.

“Let go, Keith, and back up!” 

“Let you go? Hell no! You’ll fall!”

“You’ll fall too!” Lance says as he looks down. It’s not a reassuring sight. “I think if I hold the boards here, they’ll be strong enough to hold me for a few minutes while you go and--”

“Shut up, Lance, I’m not leaving you to fall to your death.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, I wouldn’t die--I’d probably just break my back and be paralyzed for life,” Lance says.

“Because that’s _so_ much better!” Keith snarks back.

“Are we really arguing about this right now?!”

They take a couple heavy breaths. Lance’s arms ache painfully and so do Keith’s from holding on. And now the boards are starting to crack again. Some of them are popping under the strain of holding them. They do their best not to wiggle or move and it seems to help.

“Fuck, we’re both gonna fall because you’re an idiot and didn’t listen to me,” Keith huffs with annoyance.

“I told you to let go!” Lance exclaims. “Besides, how was I supposed to know the floor was going to collapse?”

“I told you I had a bad feeling!”

“No, you said you thought you  _ ‘saw’  _ something,” Lance says sarcastically. 

“I did! I mean--” Keith shakes his head with an angry frown. “--It doesn’t matter! I said to forget the camera! God, I hate you so much right now!”

“Yeah well you can suck my--”

The boards snap again making both boys’ eyes blow wide with fear. This is it, it’s all about to collapse.

“Keith, let go!”

“No! Lance!” 

Just then the rest suddenly gives way. 

It all comes tumbling down in cracks and pops of wood as both boys fall two stories with a shout. Their panicked noise is cut short as they slam into the ground with about a dozen floorboard splinters landing on top of them. For a moment, no one moves as bits of wood and drywall fall onto them.

Lance is the first to groan out a moan of pain. He feels sore all over but the landing wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Something broke his fall. Underneath him is--

“Keith!” Lance realizes with a start and quickly throws debris off him. “Shit! Hey! Keith, wake up!” he says patting his face once it's visible. “Come on buddy, you gotta be--”

Keith lets out a pained groan as he winces. There’s a little blood in his mouth as he exhales another distressed noise.

“You okay?”

“I’m...alive,” Keith grumbles. “I...bit my tongue though. Ow. You okay?”

“You kinda broke my fall.”

“So you’re not hurt?”

“Nah. How many fingers am I holding up?” Lance asks while wiggling fingers.

“Why...are you using your pinky, ring, and middle finger to count out three?” Keith asks.

“Three! Great! You probably don’t have a concussion and I didn’t break my spine,” Lance grins. “Lucky or what?”

“You’re lucky you weren’t impaled on that table leg you morons!!” someone shouts.

They look up to find Pidge standing over them with a hand on her hip and the other pointing next to them. They follow the line with their gaze and blink with shock. She’s right, they’re about six inches away from having a hunk of wood from an overturned table going right through them. Keith pales a little at the sight of it while Lance swallows down a nervous laugh. 

“Close call,” Lance manages to say as he untangles himself from Keith’s limbs to sit back on his ass.

Hunk and Shiro are rushing into the room after that. They grab and toss pieces of wood and whatnot off them while trying to get the story.

“What happened?”

“Those idiots went upstairs after you told them not to, of course,” Pidge shakes her head in disappointment then throws a small piece of drywall at the both of them. “Morons. Don’t you know how bad the water damage is in a house after a fire?”

“We do now,” Lance shrugs helplessly from the ground.

“I should have stuck with you two,” Shiro shakes his head, upset with himself. “Are either of you hurt?”

“Just some scrapes and light bruising,” Lance says as he finally pulls himself to his feet. 

He reaches over to help Keith up but it doesn’t go as planned. Keith winces with a weak cry, lets go, and falls back onto his ass. 

“Keith?”

“I think...I broke my leg,” Keith groans when he tries again only to fail. 

“Are you serious?” Lance exclaims, worry finally striking his face. “You said you were fine!”

“I said I was alive,” Keith reminds him. “Shiro, we might have to...”

“Yeah. Come on, let’s get you both checked out at the hospital,” Shiro says while picking his step-brother up from the ground and together they make their way back to the car.

*****

They don’t tell the whole truth about how they got hurt, of course. The last thing they want on top of this mess is getting slapped with a trespassing charge. As far as the doctors know, they fell out of a tree thanks to a dare. They plaster up Keith’s leg, treat all of Lance’s nasty scrapes and remove several large splinters from the both of them. 

Lance knows his injuries could have been a lot worse. If Keith hadn’t yanked him back in the first place, Lance might have been further up the hall when it all collapsed. Then he definitely would have landed right on that table leg. And then, if Keith hadn’t grabbed him as they fell through the floor and taken the brunt of the damage Lance might have a broken something too.

Lance swallows as that feeling of guilt swells in the pit of his stomach. He could have died...all because he didn’t listen to Shiro. And Keith paid the price for his hubris.

On the drive home, Lance passes the broken camera back and forth between his hands with a frown. He keeps casting glances at Keith's new cast and averting his gaze in regret. Shiro’s already dropped off Hunk and Pidge at their homes and Lance is coming up next. Better get this out before it’s time to go.

“Sorry,” Lance mumbles. “About your leg. I should have listened to you.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Keith smirks. “It’s fine. We’re both still kicking.”

“You less so in the literal sense,” Lance tries to joke and succeeds in getting a chortle out of Keith. It alleviates the guilt a little.

“Yeah, well it’s better than the alternative,” Keith says with a frown. After a long pause he turns to Lance again. “You...really don’t believe in ghosts?”

“Nah, just bad luck,” Lance smirks but at Keith’s somber face he stops smirking. “Did...did you  _ actually  _ see something?”

“Not a ghost,” Keith shakes his head and he goes silent. 

Keith does this a lot. Keeps his thoughts inside because he's afraid of getting made fun of. Lance puts a hand on his shoulder and gestures for him to continue. 

“I won’t laugh,” Lance promises. “You saved my life. I’m not allowed to laugh at you for as long as you wear that cast,” he jokes and Keith snorts before his face goes serious again.

“For a second, I thought I saw...a hole in the floor, right under me,” Keith reveals. “You were at the bottom. And you weren’t moving.”

“Really?” Lance blinks with shock. “You _really_ saw that?”

“I don’t know...but it scared the shit out of me,” Keith admits. “It’s why I didn’t want to keep going down the hall.”

Lance recalls that look of terror on Keith's face, imagining what he saw in that moment. 

“Well, I’m glad you kept going,” Lance smiles sheepishly, his face a little warm. “If you hadn’t yelled and grabbed me back, I probably would have fallen instantly on top of that table. Lance-ka-bob.”

Keith looks a little uncertain but just nods.

“Yeah, sure,” Keith half smiles. He nibbles his bottom lip and tentatively reaches over to squeeze Lance’s hand. “I’m...glad you’re okay, Lance,” he says earnestly.

Lance flushes a little at that warm contact and only now it makes sense as to why Keith didn’t want to leave him. Keith was never afraid of any ghost. He was afraid...of Lance getting in trouble. Of Lance getting hurt. 

Lance squeezes his hand back and shimmies in a little closer to lean his head on Keith’s.

“Me too,” Lance admits quietly, making Keith blush a little as well. “Think the ghosts wanted revenge for my narrating?” he jokes.

“I doubt it,” Keith shakes his head with a short laugh. “If they killed you, your ghost would be stuck in that house forever and then they’d have to listen to you for eternity. That’s gotta be worse than listening to you for a night.”

“ _ Hey _ !” Lance objects and the both of them laugh. 

*****

That night, after an awkward but ultimately nice hug good-bye from his friend-turned-something-more, Lance scurries up to his room with a giddy smile. He uploads his footage while he readies himself for bed. After brushing his teeth, he looks through it all and notices something strange in his upstairs recordings right at where he dropped the camera.

At first it’s normal. Lance yelping as he tripped, the camera skidding to a stop next to the A/C vent. It’s turned back with a great view of the hall as they approached to get it. Keith stops, saying that they should just forget the camera. Lance pulls out of his grasp to reach for it but then it gets...weird.

Video Lance falls backward away from the camera just as the floor breaks under him but Keith’s still where he stopped. At least until the collapse happens. Then he rushes forward to grab at Lance’s hands just as the camera takes a header into the ground level floor.

“What the?” Lance frowns and rewinds to check again. “That can’t be right.”

It doesn’t change though. Keith is still standing there, stock still as Lance falls backward. But that was when he was tugged, he’s sure of it. What's weirder is there’s no sound from Keith. No ‘look out!’ right before he was grabbed. 

If it wasn’t Keith then…

Lance’s body erupts with goosebumps as comes to the conclusion that he didn’t just have Keith looking out for him tonight, but perhaps he had a spectral savior too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


	4. Baby-Sitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain someone takes on the mantle of baby-sitter for the first time and finds it's not as easy as it looks. Luckily, he has a boyfriend who can help him out on that front.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble rating: General Audiences  
> Tags: No Voltron, High school Klance, established relationship

Why did he think he ever think he could do this?

Keith’s the star member of the high school fencing team, and the soon to be valedictorian, too. He’s done everything from rock climbing to spelunking to paragliding thanks to his adventurous foster parents. And he’s won awards for damn near everything. Nothing has ever challenged him to the point of ever wanting to give up.

But this might actually break him.

Keith chases after the squealing child running with a pair of scissors and manages to snatch them out of her hands only to result in her crying uncontrollably. He scoops her up, apologizing profusely while trying to explain why that’s dangerous only to be interrupted by another child slamming his hands on the piano keys across the room. The girl in his hands giggles and claps while he tries to tell the little boy to stop. Pianos aren't toys, you know? The boy ignores him and runs, chasing after the dog, leaving Keith to close the piano lid with an exasperated noise. 

Now where’s the third child?

He starts his search and nearly trips over several toy trucks, barely avoiding crushing them under his shoes. God, there are so many toys that it’s like a minefield! If he breaks one of those, he’ll  _ never  _ get them to stop crying. He’s about to pull his hair out when his cell phone rings—from inside the gerbil cage. With a groan, he sidesteps the dozens of toys with a writhing child in his arms. When he reaches the cage, he takes out his phone and answers without even checking the caller ID.

“Keith here,” he says but sounds more than a little stressed.

“You usually call me by seven. What’s up?” 

_ Lance _ . It’s not much relief with all he’s been through in the past hour, but it’s enough to bring a tired smile to his face. 

“Sorry, I’m… babysitting,” Keith huffs as the little girl finally pries herself out from under Keith’s arm. He runs after her while keeping Lance on the line.

“Babysitting? You?” Lance laughs. “You do sound out of breath though. What are they, wild dogs?” he jokes.

“Damn near,” Keith grumbles while looking under the kitchen table. “Getting ready to tether them out in the yard and throw them bones to chew on. GET THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!” Keith yells, and the twin boys scream-laugh as they scatter to the next room.

“Pffft! How many and how old are they?” Lance asks.

“There are three of them… though it feels like five. And they’re all around 6,” Keith huffs. “PLEASE STOP RUNNING INSIDE!” he begs.

“Oh, that’s  so _easy_!” Lance exclaims with a laugh. “Want me to come save you?” he jokes, and Keith can almost see the haughty smirk.

“What do you know about babysitting?” Keith asks as he pulls a Barbie out of the fish bowl. 

“I have a dozen cousins, nieces, and nephews that I babysit all the time,” Lance declares. “I was  _ born _ to entertain kids.”

“Suppose you can’t make this circus worse,” Keith admits as he towels the Barbie dry and hands it off to the little girl. 

“Say ‘please come save me Lance, you’re my only hope’,” Lance replies. “Come on… say it.”

Keith exhales a groan of annoyance but gives in. He can't do this alone and they both know it. All he has to do is sacrifice his pride of always being able to handle things.

“Please come save me Lance, you’re my only hope,” Keith repeats, his voice despairing.

“Nice,” Lance preens. “Text me the address. I’ll be there in ten. Also, don’t let them go outside by themselves. It rained yesterday.”

“So?”

“Mud, Keith,” Lance tells him, and Keith groans. 

“Oh no… they’re out there with the dog!”

With that Keith hangs up and prays that Lance gets there soon.

*****

Lance strolls up to the address Keith listed and stops at the door. Already, he can hear chaos beyond the threshold. He chuckles to himself and shakes his head before knocking and letting himself in where he finds--

Pure anarchy. 

Keith’s in the hallway holding one of the twin boys under his arm and clutching at the shirt hem of the other to stop him from sticking his hands in the fishbowl. In the other room, the little girl pounds away on the piano keys with a toy hammer while shriek-singing her favorite song. All three children are covered in dirt, juice stains, and glitter from all the havoc they’ve been waging across the entire house. On the floor are muddy footprints in the shape of children’s shoes and pawprints. Lance can see the dog outside the screen door to the back yard, caked in mud and barking to be let back inside.

And poor Keith looks beyond exasperated. Lance can’t stifle the laugh that erupts out of him.

“You look awful!” Lance bellows with laughter.

“Lance,” Keith gripes. “You said—”

“Yeah yeah, Lance to the rescue,” he grins and clears his throat. “Hey kids! Do you want to see…  _ a magic trick _ ?” he asks.

All three children go stock still and stare at him before suddenly bursting with excited noises. The girl on the piano abandons it to run over. One boy kicks out of Keith’s hold and runs to the front door while the other wriggles his way out of his shirt to escape Keith.

“Magic?!”

“Yeah!”

“Show me! Show me!”

“I will show you not one but  _ three _ magic tricks,” Lance says, and they go starry eyed. “But for it to work, you have to pick up at least three toys and put them away, and you gotta wash your hands and faces.”

“OKAY!” they shout in unison and run away. 

They grab several toys and throw them into a bin before running down the hall to the children’s bathroom sink. Lance chuckles and picks up a toy truck.

“That should keep them busy for ten minutes,” Lance smirks.

“They’re going to make a mess in the bathroom,” Keith worries and starts heading that way. Lance grabs him by the elbow to stop him.

“Yeah, but it’ll all be water and soap. Easy clean up. And ten minutes gives you time to tidy up the rest of their mess,” Lance tells him as he stoops to grab up more toys. 

“It’s not enough time though,” Keith groans and assists. “I still have to make them something to eat. God, why did I take this job?! I’m terrible with kids…”

“Don’t worry so much—you got me here to help,” Lance smiles proudly. “Nothing to fear now.”

*****

Lance is right.

Lance keeps them occupied with several sleight of hand tricks with a deck of cards. It keeps them busy for long enough that Keith’s able to clean up the tracks of mud and fix the books back onto the shelves. Lance then suggests they play a game of hide and seek. They are thrilled to do so, finding places to hide and making no sound whatsoever. It’s the quietest Keith’s ever heard them, and he’s finally able to breathe. 

It gives him time to make a simple mac and cheese meal with some hotdogs. He calls them down to eat, and together, Lance and Keith put them in their seats and set them up with food. 

“If you eat all your food, we’ll do something fun after. Sound good?” Lance hints, and they all shout with joy.

Keith gives the dog a quick bath, familiar enough with the routine from caring for his own dog. By the time he’s done and comes inside, the children are putting their dishes into the sink in an orderly line. God only knows how Lance accomplished that.

“You did very good,” Lance praises, and they giggle. “Now go change into your pajamas and brush your teeth. Do that, and I’ll make you a fort in the living room for you to watch a movie in.”

The children let out a shriek of excitement and run up the stairs to their rooms. In the meantime, Keith washes the dishes and puts them away while Lance sets up a simple blanket fort in the living room, complete with pillows and a few choice stuffed animals. He sets them up in a circle around a small plate of cookies just in time for the children to come running back down the stairs. They shout and pile into the fort, each grabbing a handful of cookies.

“Now, as long as you’re quiet during the movie, I’ll show you another magic trick before bed,” Lance tells them as he puts a movie on.

Keith can’t believe it. They listen and sit quietly throughout the movie, only shifting occasionally to get comfortable or eat another cookie. Lance just sits next to Keith on the couch with a prideful look on his face that just screams ‘I told you so’. Keith elbows him and rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless.

The children fall asleep long before the movie ends. Keith carries both twins up the stairs while Lance gets the girl. They tuck them into their beds and switch on the nightlight before closing the door and returning downstairs to finish up their cleaning. Keith takes down the fort and puts the cushions back where they belong as Lance folds up the blankets and puts them back in the closet.

Finally, the house looks like it did when Keith first arrived. Everything is back in order. Lance is already sitting on the couch again, a fond look on his face as he watches Keith puts the last of the toys into the bin. He gestures to Keith for him to join him and pats the seat next to him. Keith happily collapses into his side on the couch.

“Thanks, I don’t know what I was thinking when I took this job,” Keith sighs against his chest, and Lance chuckles.

“You were thinking about that sweet, sweet babysitting cash,” Lance answers.

“Yeah,” Keith snorts. “You were great with them.”

“Of course I am,” he says. “I’m always babysitting family, and I don’t even get paid. This was a joy to do, especially with you.”

Keith feels a blush build on his cheeks. Lance always seems to say the smoothest things to get under his wall. Makes him feel gooey and romantic too.

“Besides, you caught up once you knew what to do,” Lance says and ruffles the hair behind Keith’s neck. “You’re a quick study. Genius like you won’t need me next time.”

“I’ll always need you,” Keith smiles, resting his head on Lance’s shoulder.

“Gross,” Lance mocks disgust but then kisses the top of Keith’s head. “But true. You’re helpless without me.”

“I don’t know about  _ that _ ,” Keith huffs as he sits up and away from Lance.

“Is that how it is?” Lance frowns. He’s got his arms crossed in indignation and smirking smugly. “See if I come save you again!”

“You will,” Keith says, his voice certain as he turns to look at Lance. “You always save me, Lance.”

Keith watches Lance’s teasing attitude melt away at that comment. Watches as Lance’s face gets a dusting of pink on his cheeks as Keith stares fondly at him. His playful, kind, clever high school sweetheart. The boy who came to rescue him without asking for a thing in return. His Lance.

Keith’s face warms with an appreciative smile, thankful for Lance’s presence there tonight. It’s the final act that gets his boyfriend uncrossing his arms, all the teasing fight gone from his eyes. Lance takes a deep sigh as he rolls his eyes, but a smile forms on his face as he scoots closer to Keith and wraps his arms around him.

“Yeah… but it’s only fair,” Lance whispers and kisses Keith’s cheek. “Because you’re always saving me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


	5. Biting and Praise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance relishing in the two things he loves most given to him by the man he loves most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble rating: Explicit  
> Tags: Bottom/Submissive Lance, Top/Dominant Keith, Biting, Praise Kink, Grinding, Begging, Anal sex, Come-eating

Lance has always had a fascination with beautiful smiles. Bright white pearls exposed and shining right at him. Perfectly aligned teeth with soft lips framing a spreading grin. 

A smile like that can always make Lance fall apart as easy as any flirty comment. Easier than batted lashes or a lilting laugh. There’s just something about a genuine, happy smile that makes his cool exterior melt and his knees weak.

It wasn’t until he got older that he discovered the other side of beautiful smiles. 

Teeth sink into his shoulder, and Lance lets out a breathy noise. His wrists are pinned down just above him by hands that are far stronger than his own. A hot tongue slides over the recent bite before lips suck on the mark, bruising it for a hickey. Then, another bite sinks in right next to the last and it makes Lance arch a little with a much louder gasp.

“ _ K-Keith _ … hah… th-that’s _ — _ ”

“You like that, huh?” Keith asks, that grin spreading in Lance’s periphery and making his heart hiccup. “Good.”

Keith bites again, harder this time, and Lance arches with a moan. 

Yes, there’s only one thing better than a perfect smile with perfect teeth--it’s those same teeth biting into his flesh. He loves the sting combined with the sensuous glide of a hot tongue over his skin. Lips sucking hungrily, like Keith’s a vampire trying to get a meal. Oh, and those hot hands pinning him down as Keith's hardon rubs slow and purposefully against Lance’s with each bite.

It’s so divine that Lance could lay there all day, until his whole body was marked by Keith’s teeth. Not a thing in the world is better than that.

“You make such… _great_ sounds, Lance,” Keith breathes into his neck, canines teasing at his earlobe. “Be _real good_ and make a few more… for me.”

Keith bites on his pec this time, and Lance lets out a weak cry. He thrusts his hips up to rub against Keith with another moan, his head arching back onto the pillow when Keith licks the bite and sucks on it.

“Louder,” Keith tells him, and bites again around his nipple. It gets a much louder noise out of Lance. “That’s…” Keith sighs contently. “...so  _ good _ .”

Lance’s whole body shivers at that.

Actually, Lance was wrong. There is another thing that he’s always loved. 

Compliments. Words of praise. 

When he was at the Garrison, he wanted them all the time. From his teachers, from his peers, anyone. Getting it filled him with pride, made him feel important. Yes, praise makes him feel powerful…  except when Keith does it.

“You look  _ so good _ when you squirm like that,” Keith purrs into his ear. “And you taste so good between my teeth…” he smirks.

When Keith praises him, it makes him feel the opposite of strong. It makes him feel weak… in the best way. Lance never knew a compliment could sound so dirty but so good. That it could stroke his ego so well. Not until Keith. 

Keith bites his other pec, hard, and Lance erupts with another mewling moan. 

“Ahh… and no one makes noises like you,” Keith whispers before circling Lance’s nipple with his tongue. He sucks hard on the nub, making Lance gasp and vice his legs around Keith’s hips. “Such good…  _ good _ noises, Lance,” he praises as he drags his hard-on across Lance’s clothed crotch.

“K-Keith, d-don’t stop,” Lance begs, his face flushed with arousal as he ruts upward against Keith. “P-Please… I w-want more… K-Keith _ — _ !”

Keith loses that carefully cultivated control hearing Lance beg like that, and wrenches those long legs off him. He pulls off Lance’s boxers and throws them aside. Within seconds, Keith’s pushed himself inside Lance, those slender legs up on his shoulders as he rocks into him. 

Lance’s hands grip the headboard, moaning loud and unashamed as Keith turns his head and sinks his teeth into Lance’s calf right next to his face. Keith shudders almost violently hearing Lance cry out with each bite into his leg, his own face flushed with excitement at seeing Lance fall apart under him. He sucks a bruise into the flesh as he fucks a panting and sweating Lance into the mattress. He kisses the resulting hickey and lets out a sigh.

“Yeah, such… good noises,” Keith breathes hot on his leg. “Love getting you all marked up too…  _ you’re so good for me _ .”

“K-Keith!” Lance moans as Keith nibbles on him. “Need to… I-I’m gonna _ — _ ”

“Gonna come? Untouched?” Keith asks and Lance lets out a whine as he nods. “You lasted... hah... a while this time. Impressive. Couldn’t be more  _ proud  _ of you .”

“F-Fuck, Keith!” Lance gasps and his eyes squeeze shut as he tries to hold off just a minute longer. “Y-You know… what that does… t-to me.”

“I do,” Keith grins, and ups the thrusts to ramming speed, punching out sobbing moans with each piston of his hips. “Your skin tastes _delicious_. Your voice sounds _so_ _good_ ,” he praises, watching Lance fall apart more and more with each comment. “No one is as loud as you. No one takes my cock better… your tight ass is a _perfect fit_ for me. No fucktoy is as good as you are, Lance.”

“G-God, oh f-fuck! K-Kei _ — _ ” 

Lance doesn’t get the rest out, because Keith sinks his grinning teeth into his other calf, making him scream with pleasure. Lance releases instantly, painting his chest with come in great spurts. Keith flashes that smile at him and Lance feels himself swoon a little on top of that high from his release. What a pretty smile and it's directed at him.

Keith pulls out without coming and lets Lance put his legs down on the bed so he can breathe without being bent in half. Lance fingers his own asshole, but finds that it’s only slick with lube. Empty.

“You didn’t come?” Lance asks. He takes a deep breath and sits up. “Keith?”

“No… because we’re not done yet,” Keith smirks and proceeds to lick up the come splatter on his stomach. Lance reclines and lets him leisurely lap up the mess and swallow it down.

"Not done?"

“Nope. You were so _good_ today… I thought I’d get you twice before getting off myself," Keith reveals with an impish grin.

“Y-Yeah?” Lance says, his smile crooked and fond. “I was good?”

Keith crawls up the bed and starts nibbling on Lance’s collarbones again while Lance delves his fingers into Keith’s thick hair. Kisses get peppered up his neck, tickling him and making Lance giggle. Keith looms over him with a fond smile showing off his teeth and making Lance's heart swell with adoration. Then he leans down, his lips touching Lance's as he speaks.

“You weren't just good," Keith breathes and kisses him. "You were  _ great...  _ sharpshooter.”

And with that, Lance is feeling ten feet tall, ready and willing to do everything all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


	6. Failed Suicide Attempt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the blitz on Naxella the team lets Keith know how they feel about his near attempt to sacrifice his life for them.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble rating: Teen and up (CHECK ALL TAGS)  
> Tags: Suicide Attempt, Suicide mention, canon universe, canon events

Naxella is disarmed and the day is saved...by none other than Lotor. Boy does that sting. Having the enemy come to the rescue and propose a partnership with Voltron? This day couldn't be any stranger.

But Voltron gets to live to fight another day and Keith didn't have to die for that to happen. That's better than the alternative Keith supposes.

Keith flies into the Castle of Lion’s ship hanger to join the rest of the team, so they can find out what the next move for the Voltron coalition should be.  But as he’s landing the Galra cruiser Keith gets a transmission. It’s a short one, from Matt. Lasts only a number of seconds but it makes his gut twist with apprehension. 

“Keith...I told Pidge. I’m sorry.”

Damn Matt and his big mouth--he never intended for  _ anyone  _ to know about his plan to stop Haggar. That he was planning on crashing his ship into her barrier. He’d hoped that no one would have to know, but now thanks to Matt, he’s going to have to deal with the fallout. Maybe the news won’t travel any further than Pidge but he doubts it.

Keith disembarks the cruiser and runs his way up to the bridge, where everyone is going to be talking about Lotor. What to do about him, and what to do next. The second Keith steps through the door there are eyes on him and he knows who knows within seconds.

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance all stare at him with different mixes of emotion on their faces. Concern. Disbelief. Anger. 

They know. 

Blessedly, the Alteans and Shiro just acknowledge his presence with a nod and continue with their conversation about the prisoner in their holding cells. Keith quietly takes his place beside Kolivan and another Blade, but the feeling of eyes on him never goes away. 

No one speaks to Keith. Not there. And not now. But Keith has no illusions--they will.

*****

Somehow, Keith knew Hunk would be the first to approach him. It’s a whole two days later when Keith’s escorting Blades around the ship. Hunk’s alone. Fiddling with his fingers nervously as he steps closer. Keith sends off his charges and waits for Hunk to get within speaking distance so he can get his scolding over with.

“Hey, Keith,” he says. Like he’s trying to start some small talk.

“Hey Hu--Ack!”

All the air is squeezed out of him when Hunk embraces him into the tightest hug that raises him a foot off the ground. Keith doesn’t resist. He just lets Hunk rearrange his spine with his big beefy arms.

“I’m… glad you’re okay, Keith,” Hunk says into him. 

There’s no anger in his voice, though Keith’s not so naive as to think he’s not upset with him. Hunk may be the nicest human being in the galaxy but that just means he’s not going to slug Keith for being an idiot. That doesn’t mean he won’t get a talking to like a disappointed parent.

“Thanks, Hunk,” Keith wheezes back.

“You’re not…” Hunk starts and takes a deep breath, like he’s trying to calm himself. “You’re not going to do anything like that again are you?”

“I don’t plan to,” Keith tells him and Hunk finally puts him down.

“Good. That’s… That’s good,” Hunk smiles and wipes his welling tears away. “I think… you should talk to Pidge. And Lance. They’re… not happy with you,” he admits.

“What about Shiro?” Keith frowns and looks downtrodden at the floor. 

“Pidge made Matt promise not to tell him. I don’t think Shiro can handle more pressure right now with the whole Lotor thing,” Hunk explains. 

That explains Shiro’s indifference when he walked through the door to the bridge that day. Shiro doesn’t know.

“But he’s going to find out… eventually. Matt can’t stay quiet forever,” Hunk says and Keith snorts in agreement at that. “It should come from you and not someone else.”

“Right,” Keith nods and gives him a shoulder pat. “Thanks for the heads up, Hunk.”

“And Keith?” Hunk calls out before he can turn the corner. “It’s good to see you around the ship again. We  _ all  _ missed you.”

To that Keith just gives him a nod with a smile before turning the corner. 

That wasn’t so bad, Keith decides. And he wants to take Hunk’s advice. To talk to the others. Can’t have this hanging over them in the days to come. Too much tension will screw things up between the Blades and Voltron. 

No time like the present he supposes. He remembers that Lance and Pidge like to hang in the common room during their downtime. Perhaps he can kill two birds with one stone. Just talk to them both at the same time and get it over with, so he heads there.

When Keith gets there the room is one paladin short of its usual. No Lance, but Pidge sits on the couch with a laptop. When she looks up, she has the appearance of a disheveled owl, complete with ruffled hair looking like feathers and glasses reflecting big and wide. But a feeling of tension, of frustrated anger, washes over the room as soon as he walks in.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Keith makes a move to abort this mission, but before he can leave Pidge clears her throat and the doors shut him in. Locked via her laptop’s control. She points to the seat next to her with a jab and Keith reluctantly crosses the room. Then sits himself down. 

Pidge says nothing for almost twenty minutes and in all honesty, Keith would prefer a scolding to the awkward silence. Thankfully, she doesn’t let the torment go on forever.

“You’re an idiot. Stupid. Dumb. Fucking. Moron. Idiot,” she insults as she types away, never looking at him. If she grits her teeth any tighter she’ll crack molars.

“Pidge--”

“It never would have worked,” she practically growls as her fingers go still on the keys.

“I had to try something,” Keith tries to defend himself and she slams her hands on the keyboard making him jump.

“You don’t get it! It  **_never_ ** would have worked!” she shouts. “You would have died-- **_for nothing_ ** **_!_** You idiot!”

Keith thinks to say something but she’s wiping her face and retreating into her hoodie. She’s sniffling and breathing a little heavy. 

He wants to explain himself, tell her that they were out of options. That he had to help Voltron somehow. That his life could have made a difference. But before he can say anything she suddenly shoves her laptop to the ground, grabs him around the middle, and starts crying into him.

“I a-almost...I almost lost my b-brother and then...I almost l-lost  _ you  _ t-too!” she cries.

Keith just goes rigid and stares in shock. He had no idea that Pidge cared that much about him.

“Voltron is a f-family. And you’re a p-part of that family, Keith,” she says into him and then clutches him close as she cries again. “I don’t… w-want to… I don’t want to l-lose my f-family.”

Family… 

He’s never really had one and he hadn’t thought of it that way before. Keith doesn’t know if it’ll help her feel better but… he hugs her back and just lets her cry. Eventually, she slows down to sniffles but it seems she’s not done scolding him yet.

“Don’t you… fucking…  _ dare _ do anything like that again. You got it? Or I’ll--I’ll--”

“I got it, Pidge,” Keith tells her with a smile. 

“Good,” she nods and sits up, pulling herself from his arms. “Now, leave me alone. And don’t tell anyone I was crying! I’ll deny it and you’ll just look like an even bigger asshole!”

Is this what it’s like to have a little sister? Keith snorts a little, his face soft and sympathetic in the wake of her puffy angry owl eyes. Matt’s lucky. Even if she is a bit surly for a younger sibling, she’s nice. He ruffles the top of her head and she grumbles, shoving him away before returning to her laptop.

“Thanks, Pidge,” Keith says. “For yelling. And giving a damn.”

“Ha,” she huffs. “You think  _ I _ yelled… wait until  _ he  _ gets ahold of you.” She begins tapping away at her computer again and mumbles under her breath, “You’re gonna be in  _ pieces _ after he’s done with you.”

Keith can only assume she means Shiro when he finds out. Can’t imagine who else she could possibly be talking about. 

Unless she means...Lance? 

Keith remembers the look on Lance’s face when he walked onto the bridge that day. Angry. Like the others. Jaw set firmly, averting his eyes from Keith and contemplatively frowning throughout their war meeting. Disappointed and annoyed (at least that’s what he looked like to Keith) but like everyone else Lance said nothing. 

From what he remembers, Lance is the type to stew in his thoughts. How long did it take him to come see Keith once Shiro was back? Two weeks? Took him two weeks to confide in Keith that he was worried about Voltron and considering stepping down so Allura could keep blue and Keith could take red back.  So that means, Lance might need another week before he finally says what’s on his mind in regards to Keith’s stupid actions. 

Would Lance deck him? Maybe. Keith wouldn’t put it past Lance and he’s not looking forward to finding out.

Regardless, Keith’s tired. Having Hunk and Pidge talk to him has drained him beyond having the energy to deal with anyone else today. Avoiding Lance should be easy enough. He’ll just head back to his old room, lock the door, and get some shut-eye. He can save dealing with Lance for another day.

Keith opens the door to his room and turns on the light. It looks the same as it’s always looked. No clutter. Bed made. His old paladin armor sitting in the corner. Almost like he never left. 

He takes a single step in and notices it’s not exactly the same. Someone is in here. Behind him. 

Keith draws his weapon and turns but halts in his assault when he sees who it is. 

Lance.

He’s leaning against the same wall as the door, his arms crossed and a serious frown on his face. He doesn't even flinch when Keith pointed his dagger pointed at him. His eyes flick to it but then return sternly to Keith’s face within a second. His frown deepens as his brow furrows. 

“Lance, what are you d--”

“Thought you could avoid a reaming by stabbing me?” Lance asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm and...was that contempt?

“No, I--” Keith cuts himself off and quickly sheathes the weapon. “Sorry. I didn’t think you’d--”

“What? Be here?” Lance asks as he raises a brow and his voice along with it. Agitated. Annoyed. 

“Well...what do you want?” Keith says, uncertainly.

“What do I  _ want _ ?” Lance asks incredulously as he pushes off the wall. 

He takes a step closer into Keith’s space. Was Lance always this intimidating? 

“Are you  _ serious _ ? I want to know what the hell you were thinking?!”

“Lance--”

“Actually, let me take a crack at it. ‘Hey I’m Keith and I’m so cool and if I  **_kill myself_ ** no one will even notice!’” Lance mocks as he jabs a finger into Keith’s chest making him step back. “Is that what you thought would happen?!”

“No, I--!”

“Then let's hear it!” Lance says, taking another furious step into Keith’s space and making Keith step back. “Why? Why did you try to--try to kill yourself?! Do you  _ want  _ to die?!”

“It’s not like I had a choice!” Keith tries to explain, suddenly defensive. “We were out of options. Naxella was about to blow and Voltron is more important than…” he trails off as his eyes fall. “More important than me.”

“What?” Lance blinks at him.

“I’m not like you or Pidge or Hunk who all have people waiting for them back on Earth,” Keith says, his voice wavering a little. “I had nothing to lose so...why not me?”

“You selfish piece of-- _ nothing to lose _ ?!” Lance exclaims and grabs him by his jacket lapels. “You lose  _ everything  _ when you die! And I--we lose everything too!” he shouts.

“I thought it was better that I die than  _ an entire quadrant of space plus Voltron! _ ” Keith yells back. “It’s not like I’m needed for Voltron anymore--!”

“SHUT UP!” Lance pinches his eyes shut and shakes him. “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”

Lance is angry no doubt but hot tears start pouring out down his cheeks. He’s trying to shake Keith but it’s more like trembling now. Lance's grip is still deathly tight on his jacket. His head bows so Keith can’t see his face but he hears the fat teardrops hitting the floor.

“How  _ dare _ you think only about you. Fucking...selfish. Acting like I--we--won’t be less for your absence. Not once but twice. How fucking  _ dare _ you.”

“Lance--”

“I said shut up!” Lance exclaims past clenched teeth. He bites his bottom lip, trying to hold in his emotions but his voice cracks when he speaks again. “First you...leave us for the Blades. Then...you t-try to--” Lance swallows down a weak noise in his throat. “--leave us  _ forever _ .”

Lance looks like he wants to say more but can’t. He’s too busy trying to hold back what sounds like aborted sobs. But eventually, he looks up at Keith and all the anger is gone. There’s nothing but pained anguish behind those watering puffy eyes and it stabs directly into Keith’s heart.

He’s never seen Lance like this. He was the last person he expected to actually care if he was gone or not. He most certainly didn’t think he’d cry over him. Lance even told jokes when Keith left for the Blades. But right now he seems to care more about what Keith did than Keith does himself. 

Why? Why does that make him want to cry? Why does he want to...reach out and hold Lance?

“We’re...Lance and Keith. We’re  _ always  _ neck and neck. Ask anyone! You can’t--” Lance clenches his teeth and takes a deep calming breath. “You leave and I’m just...I’m just Lance. The useless seventh wheel.”

“Lance, you’re not--”

“No, it’s my turn to talk! You shut your quiznak!” Lance shouts again, gripping his jacket tight. 

Keith closes his open mouth and glances down at those trembling hands on his jacket. Lance’s knuckles are white, like he’d rather lose all circulation in his hands than let go. Keith nods his head contritely, a signal that he won’t interrupt again.

“I was so mad at you, Keith. I  _ hated  _ you for leaving. You abandoned us! Thought the worst of you and told myself I didn’t care if I  _ ever  _ saw you again,” Lance shakes his head like he wants to rid his head of those words. “But then one day...I turned to say something to you--a joke--and you weren’t there,” he says softly as if it hurts to say. “And then I wished  _ so badly _ that you were...”

Those bright blue eyes speak volumes more as Keith stares into them. 

Lance missed him. He went from hating Keith and hoping he’d never come back to wishing every day that he’d walk through those bridge doors sporting his red paladin armor. Make little bickering arguments like old times. Like he never left. 

But he never did come back and with what happened with Naxella...Keith almost snuffed out the possibility of anyone ever seeing him again. The last time he spoke to the team in person...would have been three months ago when he left. That plants another guilty weight in Keith’s gut as he looks on Lance’s face. Eyes red-rimmed and lidded, his cheeks wet with tears. 

“Maybe you thought there was no one waiting for you...” Lance mumbles quietly. His hold on the jacket weakens and his forehead falls onto Keith’s shoulder. “...but you were wrong, Keith.”

Lance’s hands drop from his jacket finally to his sides and when they do Lance exhales a sob. Soft weeping no longer held back out of pride. 

Keith can’t stop himself. His arms come up and he wraps them around the sobbing guy on his shoulder. His rival. His comrade. His dear friend. Lance collapses into that hold, whimpering as Keith’s hands rub gently at his back as his body is wracked with sobs.

“ **_I_ ** was w-waiting for you...and you a-almost...d-didn’t c-c-come back at all,” Lance whimpers. “D-Damn you...damn you, Keith. Why d-did you do th-that? I w-was waiting for  **_you_ ** ...”

“I...I’m sorry,” Keith says, and he means it with every fiber of his being. “I’m so sorry, Lance,” he says again, his voice wavering as his eyes water. 

Lance calls him more names as he cries into him. Mostly insults. Calls him a prick. A selfish idiot. A dumb mullet-wearing moron. Keith doesn’t argue with him. If anything he mentally agrees with every word out of Lance’s mouth as he holds him.

It’s then that a thought occurs to Keith. 

He’d have missed out on all these heart to hearts if he’d died. He’d have never known how much the team still cares about him. How much Lance cares about him. He wouldn’t be laying in his old bed, combing his fingers calmly through a sleeping Lance’s hair, with a growing warmth in his chest at the knowledge that he’s loved, truly loved.

By his team. His family. And Lance.

Keith was ready to lay his life on the line to save Voltron and the universe. He still is. But before he falls asleep that night next to Lance, he thanks the universe for not collecting on that wager and giving him another chance at life with open eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


	7. The Fake Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What starts out as a fake date turns into real feelings with real consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble Rating: General Audiences  
> Tags: Alternate Universe, College Roommates, No Voltron

It’s a cold fall day as Lance lounges over the couch of the student apartment he shares it with one other person, Keith, another grad student in the avionics department. 

Initially, they didn't get along at all. Keith was far too aloof for Lance's tastes and Lance too loud for Keith to be able to stand except in the smallest of doses. They had a strong rivalry during their undergrad years, competing often for the approval of their professors but they've mellowed out in the past two years. That rivalry has now become a solid friendship to the point where Lance can honestly say he’s as close with Keith as he is with any member of his family. 

At the moment they're vegging out at the apartment. Lance has nothing to do lately, another date canceled on him. He's bored and it shows with every sigh that escapes him. As for Keith, the nerd is finished with all his classwork, so he's in the love seat scrolling through his phone, but suddenly he sits up a little more alert.

“What’s up? Something wrong?” Lance asks, noting the change in posture.

“No,” Keith shakes his head, still looking at his phone. “Instagram advertising a free cruise,” he adds as he scrolls and reads the details.

Free cruise. Now that would be something. 

“Nice, sign me up,” Lance jokes. “I could use a break from all this school work.”

“Oh, never mind,” Keith frowns and relaxes back into the chair. “You can’t enter. Neither of us can.”

“Why the hell not?” 

“It’s a contest. There are a few categories but they’re all couple-oriented,” Keith says and lists them off. “Best proposal story. Best first date story. Best Wedding story. You tag your photos with the contest name and the lucky winning couples get an all-expense paid cruise through the Bahamas for a week.” Keith sighs and scrolls through his phone. “Sorry, Lance.”

But the wheels in Lance’s scheming little head are already turning and he slams his hands on the coffee table with an idea.

“Keith, let’s go on a date!”  
  


*****POV SHIFT*****  
  


Keith stands before the mirror with a frown as he buttons up his shirt. 

He can’t believe this. He’s been pining after this oblivious idiot for two years now and now Keith's finally getting what he wants. Only it's not a real date. It’s just one of Lance’s schemes that probably won’t even work. 

But even if it’s not real...any date with Lance sounds great.

“Is that what you’re going to wear?” Lance asks from the doorway of his bathroom. “Your tie looks--turn this way.”

Keith turns and Lance is pulling the knot out of his tie to retie it. Keith tries not to look down at the work of his dexterous fingers twisting his tie into a far better knot. 

“Are you going to do anything with your hair?” Lance asks him.

“What’s wrong with leaving it down?” Keith frowns. 

“It’ll look sloppy and we want to win this thing so, here--”

Lance shoves Keith into turning around and starts pulling a comb through his hair. Then those same fingers pull the length of thick hair through a hair tie, securing it into a low ponytail. 

“There, that looks better,” Lance smirks and nudges his shoulder. “All that nice skin and you hide it behind shaggy hair. You should tie it back more often.”

“Uh, sure,” Keith nods as Lance exits talking over his shoulder.

“Now take a few pre-date selfies,” Lance tells him. “Make sure you write little blurbs in there about how cute I am and how much you’re looking forward to the date. Like, really sell it.”

“I’ll try,” Keith says, giving Lance’s back a soft smile.

“We are so getting that cruise!” Lance announces with confidence, pumping his fist with excitement. “Now, I’m gonna go change and take a few pics in front of my vanity mirror.”

As Lance walks off, Keith turns back to the mirror and pulls his phone from his pocket. He takes several pictures but all the smiles look uncomfortable. 

Suppose he’d be more enthusiastic if it weren’t for the fact that this is all a farce. If it weren’t for the fact that Lance doesn’t actually like him. Not like that. But if he did…

Keith’s face flushes a little as he self-consciously scratches the back of his neck. He takes another picture before the heat can dissipate and it’s the most honest picture he’s taken so far. It’ll have to do. He starts tapping out his little blurb, remembering to follow Lance's advice.

  
_ \--Finally got up the courage to ask my classmate on a date. I can’t believe he’s giving me a chance.-- _ _   
_ **#nervous #but really excited #first date #first date story  
** **  
**

Keith posts the picture and calls out of the bathroom.  “First post up,” he shouts then pauses. “Is it any good?”

“Nice! Yeah, that looks great!” Lance yells from his room. “How’d you get your face all red like that? You almost look like you’re actually nervous.”

“I just...pinched my cheeks a little,” Keith lies.

“Well, it’s perfect! Going the shy route will earn extra adorable points,” Lance swears. “There! Now my first one is up too!”

Keith scrolls through Lance’s feed and promptly flushes. A Lance selfie with his St. Christopher medallion resting between his pecs with his shirt open. He’s giving the camera a sultry wink that makes Keith’s knees feel weak and blurb makes him feel even weaker.   
  


_ \--My cute classmate asked me out. He’s always so quiet, I thought he’d never ask! Can’t wait! <3-- _ _   
_ **#stoked #and HUNGRY #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

“Cute? Me?” Keith barely utters but swallows away those nervous butterflies. 

Lance is clearly playing it up for the story. He shouldn’t get invested in this.

“How’s that look? Appropriately excited?” Lance asks.

“Y-Yeah,” Keith mumbles but then clears his throat. “Looks good, Lance.”

“Great! So where are we going to eat? Gotta pick somewhere romantic-ish,” he says.

“How about...that Italian place on Decatur?” Keith suggests. He’s always wanted to go there with Lance and it’s supposed to be really romantic.

“Hmm, dunno, it’s a little pricey even if we are splitting the check,” Lance hums.

“I’ll pay for us,” Keith announces and then tries to curb his eagerness. “It’s not that expensive.”

“You sure?”

“You want it to look good, right?” Keith reminds him and leans on the door frame to Lance's room. “And there’s a park nearby. After dinner, we can go for a walk and take pictures.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea!” Lance nods. “Too bad it’s fall though. All the flowers are gone,” he frowns with disappointment.

Flowers. Keith contemplates something for a moment before clearing his throat.

“How long before you’re ready?” he asks Lance.

“Twenty minutes, why?” Lance tells him. 

“I’m gonna fill my bike up with gas,” Keith tells him. “Be back by then.”  
  


*****POV SHIFT*****  
  


Lance hears Keith's bike return downstairs and does his finishing touches. he checks his teeth, breath, and hair before shouldering into his nicest coat. He knows the date isn’t real but there’s no reason this can’t be fun. It’ll be just like any other night at the apartment when they watch scary movies and order pizza. The only difference is they’re making themselves look nice and going to a restaurant to eat instead. 

He’s glad Keith agreed to help him with the con. He figured a cool, good-looking guy like Keith would never be on board for something like this without proper incentive. It's lucky that Keith wants to go on a cruise too. Even going with a ‘fake’ boyfriend can’t put a damper on bottomless drinks for a week.

Keith knocks at the front door. Weird. Did he forget the apartment key? 

Lance swings it open only to stare with surprise.  “What the...did you buy--is that a yellow rose?” he asks.

“I thought...it’d look good for the story,” Keith admits with a frown. “Or was that a bad idea?” he asks.

“Oh. Yeah. No, that’s genius! I wish I’d thought of that,” Lance says and Keith brightens a little. Lance pulls his phone and continues chatting away. “Glad you didn’t get a bunch of red ones, that would have been over the top. Okay. Stand there, holding the flower, and uh, smile a little. Kinda like the way you were in that early picture.”

Lance snaps the picture then sidles in close next to Keith for a duo selfie featuring the rose in the shot. After that, he taps away to put a caption on the picture.   
  


_ \--He’s so sweet, he brought me a flower for our first date! Yellow’s my favorite color!-- _ _   
_ **#traditional romantic #he’s too cute #I’m gonna swoon and the night just started #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

“Look good?” Lance asks, showing it to him. Keith nods and he submits the post. “And posted. Ready to go?”

The two of them hop on Keith's bike and head out. He's been on it several times before with Keith, especially when they're in a hurry to get to class and Lance doesn't want to wait for the shuttle. Normally, Keith's a terror on wheels, taking sharp turns far too fast and scaring the absolute bejesus out of Lance to satisfy some sick thrill out of making him yelp with fear. Today he's slower, takes the turns at a reasonable speed, so Lance doesn't have a reason to complain. Not even once. 

They get to the restaurant and are shown their seats. The atmosphere is just a romantic as Lance thought it would be, perfect for their pictures. Lance takes several pictures throughout their 'date' of their food and each other, making sure to caption them all.

_ \--Keith got the mezzaluna ravioli. I went with the lasagna. We’re both pasta fiends.-- _ _   
_ **#match made in pasta heaven #he fed me a bite of his food #it was delicious #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

_ \--He’s always so serious in class but he looks so relaxed here. He must really like me. <3 Feeling’s mutual.-- _ _   
_ **#the wine is loosening us up #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

_ \--I left for a quick restroom break and Keith ordered dessert for us! I love tiramisu!-- _ _   
_ **#tiramisu #dinner and dessert #this guys is a keeper #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

All of Lance’s pictures of their date are captioned with such enthusiasm and excitement. All of it purposefully worded to give the best impact to anyone who might be judging their photos. They drink and eat and talk about their usual subjects like when they’re at the apartment, which only makes the atmosphere more relaxed. 

Keith takes a few pictures too when Lance reminds him too. And when Lance checks the feed to see what Keith writes he almost blushes while reading them.   
  


_ \--The candlelight here brings out the blue in his eyes. Like a swirling ocean. I could look at them all night.-- _ _   
_ **#Getting lost in his eyes #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

_ \--Never going to be able to finish my food. I keep getting distracted by Lance's smile.-- _ _   
_ **#perfect smile #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

_ \--I get butterflies in my stomach when he laughs. I don’t want tonight to ever end.-- _ _   
_ **#I want to hold his hand #first date #first date story** **  
  
**

“Jeez Keith, you’re better at this than I thought you’d be,” Lance says. “Your comments are way more romantic than mine,” he admits and puts down his phone to sip his wine. “You know, I’ve never heard you so much as talk about  _ anyone  _ like that. Is there some super-secret crush I don’t know about that you’re drawing your inspiration from?”

Keith blinks and averts his gaze while scratching his chin.

“Uh...yeah. I guess there is,” Keith says with a shrug.

Lance loves gossip and it's a wonder they've never talked about this before.

“Who?” Lance begs to know with a smile.

“Doesn’t matter,” Keith shakes his head and takes another sip of wine. “He’s out of my league. He’s a ten and I’m...barely a six.”

Lance frowns and puts down his glass. 

“I don’t know about that but...what’s wrong with a six? That’s above average, isn’t it?” Lance asks.

“Tens don’t give sixes the time of day,” Keith sighs and swirls his wine.

“Not true,” Lance insists. “And if he won’t give you the time of day then he’s not a ten at all. Makes him an eight at best.”

“Eight is still better than six,” Keith points out. 

“Not really,” Lance says and sits up to explain. “All a six has to do is clean up well and have a great personality. That adds up to better than a ten any day. An average eight, or a shitty personality ten, would be lucky to date a really nice six,” he clarifies using his fingers with each corresponding number as he speaks.

“Boy, you are...bad at math,” Keith snorts and Lance laughs.

“Maybe so, but you’re looking at a six that regularly tricks people into thinking he’s an eight,” Lance grins as he thumbs himself proudly. “Anyway, my point is, don’t give up on this person you say is a ten just because you think they’re too good for you. Truth is you’re better than they are, they just don’t know it yet.”

Keith blinks in wonder at those words and a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. He scratches at his chin again as his cheeks flush pink.

“Thanks, Lance,” Keith manages to mumble. “I’ll...keep that in mind.”

“Ooh! Don’t move! Your embarrassed blush will look great on the story,” Lance paws at his phone to pull up the app.

Keith snorts out a laugh but nods and smiles. Just as Lance brings up the phone to take the picture he realizes something. 

He’s never...seen Keith smile like that before. Sure the posed pictures he smiled in, but they were forced uncomfortable things. This one is genuine, fond, and soft. And his eyes aren’t on the camera, they’re on--But that can't be right.

“Wanna head to the park soon?” Keith asks just as Lance snaps the photo. “Maybe get in a few shots before the sun sets? There’s a churro stand on the west side that’s supposed to be good.”

Keith’s still smiling and it makes Lance realize something else. Keith’s looking forward to the walk in the park. Not because it’ll add to their picture fodder for the contest but because he’s...enjoying himself. He likes being here with Lance.

Keith likes him. And that knowledge makes Lance’s chest flutter with butterflies.

If they hadn’t done this date scheme thing for the contest...would he have ever considered going on a date with Keith? 

What does that matter? He’s considering it now. Where before he could only see Keith as his friend, the one with too many walls, now he sees a kind and sensitive sweetheart. One that went through all this trouble to help his crush win a cruise that he doesn’t even care about. A sweetheart that Lance now wants to get to know better now that his eyes have been opened to the possibility.

“Actually, uh,” Lance smiles shyly. “I’m beat. We should go back to the apartment and watch Scream 2.”

“Really?” Keith blinks with confusion. “What about your contest?”

“There’s no way we’ll win. I’m just kidding myself thinking those pics would fool anyone,” Lance snorts. “But I did have fun goofing around with you. And dinner was great. I’ll make sure to pay you back for all your hard work tonight.”

“Don’t worry about--”

“How about next Saturday?” Lance smiles and places a hand on top of Keith’s stopping his words in this throat. “There’s this Thai place on Jackson that’s supposed to be really good. My treat?” 

The implication is clear enough that Keith flushes. He eyes Lance’s hand on his and swallows.

“Just...you and me?” Keith stammers quietly. 

“Yeah,” Lance chuckles. “Me being a six that’s sometimes an eight and you being a nine that thinks he’s a six doesn’t seem like it would add up well but...I think the two of us could make a decent ten together.”

Keith bursts with a laugh despite himself and Lance joins in.

“You...really don’t know how math works,” Keith shakes his head with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m awful,” Lance admits with another laugh but then he squeezes Keith’s hand. “Go on a real date with me anyway, Keith?”

Keith looks down at Lance’s hand and chuckles. He did say he wanted to hold Lance’s hand earlier in his post. So he shifts his hand until it can take Lance’s. Warm and soft. After a gentle squeeze, he looks up with a shy smile. 

“Sure. Yeah. I’d...like that, Lance,” Keith tells him. “So uh...next Saturday?”

“That can be date two as the real first date is about to start,” Lance says as he stands from the table. He still has Keith’s hand and tugs him out of the chair. “Let’s go pick up some popcorn and snacks. It’s time for some co-eds to get shredded.”

When they do get back to the apartment, the air is different but in a good way. Whatever walls Keith had before, there seems to be less now. He’s still quiet but he’s not as guarded and Lance notices. Keith makes popcorn and instead of scooping some out for himself and sitting alone on the love seat, Keith takes a seat on the sofa next to Lance. 

On occasion, their hands meet in the popcorn bowl and after it’s all gone, Lance’s buttery fingers thread into Keith’s. It feels like the most natural gesture in the world and neither of them comment on it or try to move. They just relax a little more into each other under the shared blanket as the movie plays, eventually falling asleep together on the couch.

The night may have started out as a farce but now...things couldn’t be more real for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this drabble, please, leave a kudos or a comment. If you don't know what to write, you can simply leave a heart or the word 'kudos'. If you have a favourite part, tell me about it and how it made you feel. Any love you show for the content is always appreciated.
> 
> As with any of my works, you never need ask if you can make fanart. Just credit me and tag me on [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/RangoAte). I always love seeing art of any kind.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope to get more fresh drabbles out to you soon. Stay safe out there, Paladins.


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